Chicago cuts $68 million from classroom spending

The Chicago school district plans to slash classroom spending by $68 million in 2013-14, part of its effort to close a $1 billion deficit. The Chicago Sun-Times says the district also plans to raise property taxes to the maximum allowed, cut central office spending by $112 million and use $700 million in one-time reserves, including county and state money that came in early. The district’s fiscal 2014 is about $5.6 billion, compared with $5.1 billion last year